Peavine Creek bridge work in Alabaster set to start

ALABASTER, Alabama -- The replacement of the Peavine Creek bridge on Shelby County 11 in Alabaster is set to begin.

Shelby County and the Alabama Department of Transportation have executed an agreement that outlines the terms of the project, and bids from companies interesting in doing the work had to be in by last Thursday.

In the agreement between ALDOT and the county, the state estimated the cost of the bridge replacement project at just under $2 million.

Eighty percent of the project will be paid for with federal highway money.

Shelby County will have to pay the remaining 20 percent, which would come to $395,942, according to the agreement between ALDOT and the county.

A bid package sent out on the project states that the contractor hired to replace the bridge will have 200 working days to finish the work.

At least 10,000 vehicles travel through the section of Shelby County 11 where the Peavine Creek bridge is located, according to the most recent traffic count available.

Shelby County 11 is not scheduled to be closed while the bridge is being replaced.

Plans call for the contractor to put in a temporary detour that will be used by residents while construction is under way.

Shelby County Engineer Randy Cole said last week that if the Peavine Creek bridge replacement ends up costing the $1,979,710 that was estimated by the state, it will deplete the county's federal highway funds.

That could slow down the county getting to the next bridge replacement project it has on its list , which would be to replace a bridge over Dry Creek on Shelby County 12 in Montevallo, Cole said.

If the Peavine Creek project comes in at the estimated cost, the next time the county would have federal funds available to put toward projects would be 2014, he said.